Sound of the Tide
by Minishini
Summary: When Kuchiki Byakuya inherited head of the House Kuchiki, he also inheritied all of its businesses, including a less than moral tea house. When he investigates the business, he ends up taking home a rebelious geisha! ByakuyaxOC, RenjixOC
1. Chapter 1

Title: Sound of the Tide  
Chapter: 1/?  
Rating: PG!  
Warnings: Adult themes, sorta  
Pairings: Byakuya x OC, Renji x ?? (OMG A MYSTERY!!)  
Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. In Japan, this would be considered as a great tribute to his sucess and genius. In America, not so much. :(  
A/N: This story will tie in heavily with my other Bleach FF, "Blessed Victory", and may contain spoilers from that fic. This is also a Japanese-term heavy chapter, I will add some definitions at the end of the chapter to clear up any confusion. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"What, may I ask, are you blushing for?" Kuchiki Byakuya's voice was low, deep, quiet, and, as always, perfectly monotonous.

Abarai Renji winced from his perch beside his captain on the Kuchiki house sedan chair. He had hoped that the dim light of the twenty-ninth district of Rukongai would be able to hide the heat rising to his cheek, but alas, he was foiled again. "What do you mean, Captain Kuchiki?" he coughed into his fist, trying to clear the tightness out of his throat.

Byakuya turned his head ever so slightly, just enough so that he could regard Renji coolly from the corner of his eyes. Delicately, he arched one eyebrow in a silent response.

Renji coughed again and looked down at his sandaled feet. It was an extraordinarily awkward moment for him. "Captain, are we heading towards the red light district?"

Byakuya sniffed and closed his eyes, his chin lifting arrogantly in the air. There was a moment's silence before he replied. "Yes. Do you have a problem with this, Abarai?"

Hell yes he did. "N-no, Captain," he coughed again and his hands gripped his knees tighter. He was sitting ramrod straight, his entire body tense. He hadn't been within eye sight of a red light district ever since he escaped the hell hole of the seventy-ninth district of Rukongai.

Byakuya let out an inward sigh as the sedan chair continued on its steady path through the cobbled streets. This was a part of his job as clan head that he despised with every iota of his being: checking on his house's businesses. Over the centuries it had seemed wise for his ancestors to invest in many business venues, from silk to sake to tea houses. Unfortunately for him, a lot of those tea houses were nestled firmly in the middle of red light districts. While the tea houses in the higher tiers of Rukongai were nowhere near as…sullied…as the one he was heading towards, it was nonetheless a smudge to his name to take part in any business located within their walls. Unfortunately for him, his late father had a disgraceful interest in them.

He had wanted to sell each and every one of them when his father passed decades ago. But the house elders insisted that the income was too important for House Kuchiki—a fact that Byakuya found rather unbelievable. "We will only be there for an hour, two at most," he spoke finally as the sedan paused for a moment as the carriers waited for the guards standing before the district gates to confirm Byakuya and Renji's identity.

Renji simply nodded and swallowed past a lump in his throat.

"Keep your eyes closed until we reach the gates," Byakuya offered quietly. "And ignore any prostitutes that call out to you. They will stop if you don't show any interest. But if you so much as look at them…"

"C-Captain, why did you bring me along?" Renji's blush doubled as his voice cracked. Despite his captain's advice, he was staring wide-eyed as they passed under a huge flowering arch. At the first doorway, a lean woman with big breasts and a sloppy kimono smiled and blew a kiss at him, and Renji hurriedly redirected his attention on to his captain. Byakuya was as calm as ever, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed.

"Because you asked me to," Byakuya replied simply. "Do you not remember the conversation where you insisted on escorting me on my business trips?"

Sure as hell, Renji did. Byakuya had shot him down with a simple 'no' so quickly that it was like a bullet to the head. Was it possible that he knew what Renji had been up to the last time Byakuya had left Sereitei for a few days on a business trip…? His face turned a blinding shade of red at the thought. "Yes, Captain, I do. But I thought you had no intention of bringing me?"

"Change of plans, Abarai."

Renji stared at his captain's jaw, where he could just barely make out a muscle twitching in irritation. Slowly, ever so slowly, he turned to look straight ahead. His eyes this time were locked on the silhouette of the mountains far in the distance. Oh dear gods, Byakuya knew.

Byakuya took a slow, deep breath as the sedan chair finally lurched to a stop. He was faintly aware of voices calling out to him and Abarai, but he ignored them as he waited for his servants to set down a footstool for him. Slowly, and with all the elegant grace of a giant cat he stood, and stepped down to the ground. Thankfully they were in a good enough district that he didn't immediately find his feet buried into a foot of sewage or garbage. He did, however, find himself wishing that he had brought the higher wooden sandals that would elevate him far enough above the drain that his stockings wouldn't be threatened by the small trickle of water running along the street.

"Ah, Lord Kuchiki," a voice called out from behind the giant wooden gates he now stood before. Byakuya was all too aware of Renji stumbling clumsily from the sedan behind him as the gatekeeper opened the doors wide. "Welcome, welcome. The master is waiting for you." The stooped, greasy man bowed, his arms directing Byakuya towards the open doors of the tea house in front of him.

"I brought a guest," Byakuya replied simply to the gatekeeper before he began walking calmly towards the house. "Please alert your master, so that he knows to set an extra place."

He didn't even wait for the man to reply before he scaled the short set of steps to the door. Two women in fancy kimonos were waiting for him at the top, all smiles and flirty touches as they offered to take his scarf and his haori for him—surely, he was hot, they said.

Byakuya ignored them, even as they gave Renji the same treatment. His awkward vice captain stammered replies as he tried in vain to walk past them as Byakuya had. The two women were having none of that, however, and were attempting to loosen Renji's bandana from around his forehead.

"Lord Kuchiki! What a pleasure to see you after so long!" a high pitched voice called out as Byakuya paused just inside the doorway. He closed his eyes, and counted to ten as he focused on his breathing. Tonight he needed to particularly focus on keeping his mask of calm on. The new teahouse manager had to be the most annoying creature he had ever had the displeasure of meeting… "Welcome! Welcome!" And now the creature was bowing before him, reeking of sweat, alcohol, and a mixture of tobacco and sex.

"Let us make this quick, Yamagawa," Byakuya sniffed irritably and placed one hand on the hilt of his zanpakutou. He watched pleasurably as the man's glassy eyes followed the movement and stared in horror at Senbonzakura's sheathe. "I have better things to do with my time."

"No doubt, no doubt," the man murmured hurriedly before bowing again, directing Byakuya towards a particular hall. "No doubt a man of your position would be much too busy for one such as me! Your duties as Captain of the Sixth must keep you busy! Mustn't waste your time with petty troubles…"

"No, you must not," Byakuya felt himself frowning ever so slightly—just a twinge at the edges of his mouth. But it must have been enough, for the man hurried to guide him down the hall and towards a private room. He was jabbering the entire way, though, about random matters of running the tea house. Byakuya ignored him for the most part, and only paid enough attention to get the general gist of the conversation: business was up, thanks to the addition several new geisha.

Byakuya wouldn't bet money that these so called "geisha" were the real deal. More likely than not, Yamagawa had seen fit to buy the contracts of some high-class oiran and was attempting to pass them off as geisha.

"Here we are, here we are…" the man murmured and rubbed his greasy hands together as he bowed to Byakuya once again. "Please, take a seat, take a seat. Am I correct to assume that the Vice Captain Abarai escorts you?"

Byakuya looked calmly over one shoulder, and felt a muscle in his jaw tick at the sight of his vice captain. The two women from the door were practically hanging off of his broad shoulders, giggling as they shamelessly ran their fingers through Abarai's loose hair. The man looked absolutely miserable, and was attempting to scowl past the blush on his face. "Unfortunately, yes," Byakuya's voice was low and threatening as he stared at his vice captain. "Enjoying yourself, Abarai?"

Renji's scowl deepened as he attempted to shrug off both of the women, only to have them cling tighter to his kimono. It wasn't until one of them attempted to loosen his obi that he finally snapped and shoved both of them off of him, grumpily stomping past Byakuya and into the tea room. "I am never coming with you to this place again," he growled under his breath.

Smugly, Byakuya stood a bit taller as he followed his vice captain into the room. He allowed the greasy Yamagawa to show him to a plush pillow at the head of the low traditional table in the room. While he was mildly surprised to find that the table was made out of solid rosewood, Byakuya was appalled to find that the cushion he sat on was a cheap, threadbare thing. The floor hadn't seen a good polishing in years, and the walls were in a shabby state of disrepair. The room was decorated with cheap vases and terrible paintings—Byakuya was sure that one of the wall scrolls contained Chinese characters instead of traditional Japanese calligraphy.

"The tea service will be in shortly," Yamagawa beamed as he took a seat to Byakuya's left. Abarai was at his right, still scowling as he gathered his flaming red hair into a thick pony tail high on the back of his head. "You will be very pleased, I think. I have managed to find the best tea I could afford, just for your visit! And the geisha serve tea so beautifully…"

"I do not particularly care," Byakuya said simply. "Where are the books?"

Yamagawa flapped a dismissive hand at him, which set Byakuya's lips into a firm scowl. Just as he was about to open his mouth to admonish the man for his blatant lack of disrespect, a small girl hurried into the room with an arm full of books. "Business can wait until after pleasure, can't it, Lord Kuchiki?" the man whined even as the girl deposited her load on the table in front of Byakuya.

"No," Byakuya replied as he watched every so coolly as the girl curtsied and hurried back out of the room. She was much too young to be working at a place like this. She couldn't be a day past one-hundred…that was younger even than Vice Captain Kusajishi Yachiru. "I have no interest in what you have to sell here, Yamagawa. I only care if this tea house is making enough of a profit to be worth my time. You do understand what happens if it does not?"

Yamagawa shrank where he sat as he cast a resigned look at Byakuya. "You will close the house?"

"Yes, I will. Not sell it, mind. I will _close_ it. You will be out of a job, as will every person that works here." That little girl would be free from this particular hell hole, at least.

Byakuya took one of the business books from the table in front of him and opened it to a marked page. He barely glanced at the book before he found what he needed—the tea house was indeed making more money than it had last quarter, and Yamagawa had sent the proper amount of the profits to House Kuchiki. The rest went into various repairs—not that Byakuya had noticed any repair work—and into the upkeep fees. He pretended to be reading the book over thoroughly, though, as Yamagawa yammered on about some more random topics.

Calmly, he simply stared at the old yellowing pages of the book as he focused on blocking out all the annoying little sounds around him. Abarai was grumbling under his breath as he straightened out his shihakusho. Someone was having a rather raucous party down the hall, and voices were raised in rambunctious laughter. Floor boards creaked above him. A woman was moaning. He struggled to ignore them all as he searched for the reiatsu of his little sister.

Sure enough, she was somewhere nearby in the red light district. Hopefully, he thought smugly to himself, she had caught a good glimpse of Abarai's antics with the prostitute door greeters. If things worked out the way he planned, that alone would be enough to end the ridiculous affair his Vice Captain was having with her. He couldn't afford for their relationship to carry on; if word ever got out that a Kuchiki house princess was busy cavorting and romping around with someone like Abarai Renji—a stray dog from the slums of Rukongai—all hell would break loose among the noble families.

"Don't think for a minute that I don't know what you are up to," Renji growled under his breath towards Byakuya's general direction. That was enough to snap Byakuya out of his sealed off little world, and redirect his captain's gaze from the book and on to his vice captain. Renji was glaring hatred at Byakuya as he tightened his bandana around his forehead, ineffectively covering up his tattoos.

Byakuya regarded him calmly. "You were the one who wanted to come, Abarai," he reminded him, not bothering to lower his tone so that Yamagawa could not hear them. Sure enough, the greasy little man immediately fell quiet and looked over both Byakuya and Renji.

"Is something the matter, my masters?" the little man sniveled. "Please, let me know and I will do my best to correct the offense."

"Nothing that is of a concern to you," Byakuya replied, just as the rice paper doors to their little tea room slid back open. He sighed as, sure enough, a woman dressed as a geisha glided into the room. He glanced at her only long enough to note her obi—the bright purple thing was tied in the front, rather than at her back. She was definitely an oiran, and a cheap one at that. "Let us make this quick," he grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest.

"These lovely ladies are the newest addition to our wonderful household!" Yamagawa exclaimed excitedly, as three more women in bright kimonos glided into the room. They all giggled and hid their faces behind ornate fans—all except for one. "They came to me special from the twentieth district. Their mistress sold their contracts to me for a wonderfully low price!"

"Yamagawa-san was so wise to partake of her offer," the first oiran giggled as she settled down on a small cushion beside the greasy man. Renji balked as a second settled down beside him, her dainty little body just barely brushing his in a coy flirt as she giggled at him behind her own fan. Byakuya tried to ignore the oiran that settled in beside him, and would have succeeded if she had been better trained. The woman practically fell onto the cushion beside him.

Byakuya didn't bother to hide his frown as his eyes snapped open and he turned ever so slowly to the woman beside him. If he had been a lesser man, he would have openly gaped at the sight before him.

The woman's kimono was dirty and disorganized. Her silky black hair was escaping the confines of her elegant hair pins. Her make up was poorly done and was fading in some spots, smudged in others; her eye liner had run as if she had been crying. And her obi was tied stubbornly behind her—as if she were a real geisha.

She stared defiantly back at Byakuya, silently daring him to say anything.

"Ack, Shione! You are a wreck!" Yamagawa wailed as he finally noticed Byakuya staring unabashedly at the woman. "Leave! Leave us at once!"

"She will stay," Byakuya replied calmly, his perfect mask back on. He turned cool eyes onto Yamagawa's wide ones. The oiran were setting out sake cups for the three men, two of them giggling and talking amiably as the third simply scowled and slammed Byakuya's cup onto the table in front of him. "I have no intention of waiting to be served. I am leaving as soon as possible, Yamagawa."

"I promise you, Lord Kuchiki, she is not usually this ungainly!" Yamagawa snarled and lifted his hand threateningly at the woman, as if he were about to strike her. The woman simply glared at him as she lifted her dainty little chin in the air in open defiance. "When I bought her contract, she was one of the most sought after geisha of the twentieth district! Her mistress thought she would be good enough to eventually be sold into service in the fifteenth…but, well." Yamagawa gestured at her disgustingly. "The girl refuses to undertake her mizuage ritual!"

Renji choked on his own tongue from beside Byakuya.

Byakuya watched as one by one the two oiran tending to Abarai and Yamagawa elegantly poured them both sake. Renji was scowling again, his hands trembling as he held his sake cup for his oiran. Just as Byakuya was going to offer his cup to the woman beside him, she snatched the porcelain from the table before him and sloppily dumped the contents of her tokkuri into the little cup. She slammed the thing back down onto the table, sake sloshing over the brim. She didn't even wait for Byakuya to offer pouring her a serving of sake, before she poured herself a cup and threw the whole load back in one gulp.

This time, Byakuya stared at her in open surprise as she settled on to her cushion. She was staring at the fourth oiran as she tuned an ancient looking shamisen on her lap, and for all intents and purposes was blatantly ignoring Byakuya.

"Shione!" Yamagawa barked angrily. "Show Lord Kuchiki more respect! He is our honored patron, and is paying your salary from the profits of this tea house! Do not shame me!"

"What salary?" the woman snapped. Her voice was smooth and distinctly feminine, but lacked the girlish sound of the other oiran. "You do not pay me. You barely give us enough money to afford makeup, let alone food!"

"And it's no wonder, what with that piss poor makeup job of yours!" Yamagawa argued back, seemingly unaware of Byakuya opening one of the account books again. "Why should I pay for your makeup if you do not use it like that? And you had enough food! You were fat enough for two when you arrived here—"

Shione, the disheveled oiran, was opening her mouth to argue back when Byakuya cut in. "It appears the woman is right," he growled quietly, and silence fell in the room. Even the nameless oiran that was tuning her instrument had stopped. "You are not providing these women a proper salary in order for them to maintain practicing their trade, or to properly provide for themselves." He snapped the book closed. "Why is that?" he asked quietly, and regarded Yamagawa with a cool look.

The little man visibly swallowed as he glared at Shione. The woman was sitting taller on her cushion, a look of absolute victory on her sloppily-painted face. "You have seen the men that patron this facility, Lord Kuchiki," he replied slowly. "They don't care if these women are decorated as proper geisha. They only care to be entertained by them, and later pleasured by them. They don't need all the supplies they ask of me!"

Byakuya glanced from the face of one oiran to the next. They had all fallen eerily silent and were looking at their dainty little hands, folded neatly in their laps. Only Shione met his cold gaze with her daring black eyes. "You seem to have mistaken proper geisha for prostitutes," Byakuya spoke after a moment.

"Are they not one and the same?" Yamagawa huffed irritably. The three oiran seemed to shrink in on themselves, but Shione rose angrily to her feet.

"Do not insult me!" she snapped, her little hands curling into fists at her sides. "I did not train since I was a child to work in a _whorehouse_!"

Byakuya ignored her as he took a sip from his sake cup. The rice wine hit his tongue in a pleasant way and slid down smoothly. Yamagawa hadn't lied about buying the best that money could buy from Byakuya's visit. This had to be some of the best sake Byakuya had the pleasure of drinking in any tea house. "Yamagawa, my father may have supported your less than reputable habits," he started, "but I do not. How were you three trained?" Byakuya directed his question to the silent oiran.

"Not as geisha, Lord Byakuya," the one beside Abarai replied quietly. She refused to meet his eyes. "We three were not deemed well enough, and were sold to an oiran house. Shione is the only true geisha."

Byakuya nodded in satisfaction as the woman finally fell quiet. "Yamagawa, you will provide these women with a satisfactory salary, as well as proper compensation for the materials they will need to perform their duties. As for the geisha, I will take possession of her contract and place her in the employ of a more suitable tea house."

This time, as Shione sat back down on her cushion, she seemed to drift like a blossom on the wind. She possessed all the elegance in the world as she folded her legs beneath her, and smiled brightly at Byakuya as she stole a tokkuri from one of the oiran. "Lord Byakuya, would you like some fresh sake? I am afraid I may have spit in yours."

Byakuya scowled openly at the woman, even as Abarai snorted with laughter from beside him.

* * *

Okay some terms of interest:  
Geisha: traditional female Japanese entertainers, literally translates to "Performing artist"  
Oiran: prostitutes from the Edo period that resembled geisha, and gave geisha the bad image of being prostitutes; they seperated themselves from geisha by wearing their obi tied to the front.  
Shamisen: a traditional Japanese instrument, it resembles a three-stringed banjo.  
Tokkuri: the little vase-looking thing that sake is served from  
Sake: Rice wine! You all should know this by now

I think I got them all.

Shione is a little spit fire, innit she?


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Sound of the Tide  
Chapter: 2/?  
Rating: PG!  
Warnings: Adult themes, sorta  
Pairings: Byakuya x OC, Renji x OC (I hinted at it enough that I think you guys figured it out)  
Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. In Japan, this would be considered as a great tribute to his sucess and genius. In America, not so much. :( Fukada Shione and Kuchiki Seiraryu are my own little creations, though, so please ask for permission if you want to use them for anything~  
**  
*A/N:** **Someone brought it to my attention that I forgot a term on the last chapter, and it will play in quite heavily later on so I must mention it! "Mizuage" is a sort of coming of age ritual for geisha. Thanks to the oiran and "Memoirs of a Geisha" however, many people associate it with the auctioning off of a geisha's virginity, which is not how the traditional ceremony was played out. It never even involved a geisha's virginity or auctioning her off to anyone. In Shione's case, her old mistress intended for her to do so, though.***

* * *

Grumbling under his breath, Abarai Renji stalked right past the guards that tried to stop him at the back gates of House Kuchiki's secondary property. He was only vaguely aware of the guards babbling excuses as Captain Kuchiki's sedan chair followed shortly behind him, and of Byakuya calmly dismissing their comments. Abarai was a common visitor to the household, he told them, there was no need to continuously stop him at the gates. Renji cast his captain a flat glance over his shoulder as he came to a stop in a small courtyard; wasn't it Byakuya himself who had insisted only a few years ago that the guards always halt Renji?

What kind of game was the bastard playing at, now?

Byakuya, on the other hand, seemed to be ignoring his vice captain as the sedan chair came to a halt. A nerve was ticking visibly in his forehead, one of the tell tale signs that his captain was in a terrible mood. Usually Byakuya was capable of keeping his emotions in check through the most trying of situations, but when it had become apparent that he wouldn't be able to get rid of the geisha named Shione the same night he had taken her contract…well…

"Wake the lady of the household's servants," Byakuya murmured as a doorman hurried to greet his lord and his companions. Byakuya was waiting grumpily beside the sedan, one hand held out politely for the gawping geisha that stood inside it.

"This place is huge," Shione spoke in a noticeably awed tone. Her black eyes were wide in wonder as she looked over the house and surrounding gardens. "You live here, Kuchiki-kun?"

Scowling, Byakuya stared up at her and waited politely. Unsurprisingly, she completely ignored his extended hand and stepped down from the sedan unaided. "You may not refer to me so formally, Shione."

She simply shrugged at him and folded her arms under her breasts, her hands tucked up the sleeves of her kimono.

With a flat look on his face, Byakuya directed her towards a gathering crowd of young maids. The girls were formally dressed in the uniform of House Kuchiki's servants—a modest black kimono—and had their heads bowed in respect as they fell into line before Byakuya. "Please direct Ms. Shione to a private room in my dear sister's quarters, as well as her luggage when it arrives."

Shione gave him a mischievous grin as one of the ladies bowed deeper in compliance to Byakuya's orders. "Do I not merit a tour of the grounds, _Lord_ Kuchiki?"

He huffed quietly and crossed his own arms over his chest, before he closed his eyes and turned towards the general direction of his own quarters. "You may receive one in the morning, if I have not found a new house to patron your services by then. Please, do not bother unpacking."

Shione rolled her eyes at his back as Byakuya simply walked away, with Abarai Renji following in his wake. She watched them go quietly, even after one of the maidservants called her name. Byakuya seemed completely unfazed, she thought as she finally turned to follow the dainty little servant. Did he not understand exactly what kind of life he had saved her from? Or did he simply not care?

With a soft sigh she went back to staring unabashedly at the surrounding buildings. She knew that this was not the Kuchiki clan's main house—Byakuya would have never brought her there—but instead the property he kept in the midst of his squad's district in Sereitei. Still, she thought the place was more than worthy of any lord. She had grown up accustomed to the small plots of land and modest manors that the lesser nobility in the Twentieth District of Rukongai were so proud of. Byakuya's property could have supported six of those lords, and still have plenty of room.

She would do anything to be able to work her trade in places such as this, she sighed wistfully. The back courtyard alone was a million times better than any courtyard she had served in, with great cherry trees with wide canopies, and elegantly shaped maples shading antique benches and sprawling koi ponds.

It was depressing knowing that she would only have to leave the next day.

"I see that mine brother has brought home a new pet," a cool, feminine voice drawled from the lit entrance of the building the maid had guided Shione to. The dainty girl immediately sank into a deep curtsy, and Shione followed suit. There was only one reason a servant would bow so deeply without hesitating or looking at the speaker and that was when their master was the one in question.

"Lord Kuchiki has been kind enough to provide me a place to rest until proper lodging can be arranged for me, my lady," Shione spoke softly, before she let her eyes slowly trail from the stone pathway up the wooden steps of the building. She straightened slowly from her bow as she took her time to look over the woman that addressed her, and felt a fist coiling her innards into a tight knot.

There was no way to put it, other than Lady Kuchiki had to be the most stunning woman Shione had ever seen. Her bare feet were dainty, her skin an appealing pale tone and accented perfectly by her deep red kimono. The bright white obi she wore was cinched in at a narrow waist, and her breasts filled out her kimono perfectly. Her hair, as black as her brother's, was loose and flowed elegantly along her slender, elfin face. Cool blue eyes regarded Shione calmly as the lady leaned against the doorway she stood in.

"So I have heard," the lady murmured quietly and swept her cold gaze over Shione. "For a geisha of your repute, you are alarmingly shabby. Byakuya allowed you to accompany him in public?"

Shione barely resisted cringing as she lifted a small hand to touch her cheek. She hadn't had the time to take off her sloppy make-up before leaving that piece of crap tea house that Byakuya saved her from, and suddenly she regretted that. "My apologies, Lady Kuchiki—"

The tall woman waved a dismissive hand, before her painted lips turned into a delicate smile. "You are either clever or proud enough not to care," she chuckled, causing Shione to blush. "Either way, mine brother must like you. Your name?"

"Fukada Shione—"

"Well, shall we get you settled in, Fukada-chan?" the woman straightened out elegantly, before turning her back on Shione and the maidservant. Shione swallowed past the sudden tightness in her throat as she watched the lady walk—she absolutely glided over the perfectly polished floor, her hips swaying in the perfect manner to be considered provocative, yet well within the appropriate social standard.

"Yes, my lady," Shione blushed, finally humbled by the Kuchiki clan as she followed the lady through the dimly lit halls of her quarters. It suddenly sank in exactly where she was, and under whose patronage.

The next time she saw Kuchiki Byakuya, she swore silently to herself, she would not be wearing a sullied kimono and poor make-up.

**XXXX**

"I think you just barely missed giving poor Renji a heart attack last night."

Byakuya ignored the woman that spoke to him, and instead focused on the news paper he had held in front of him. If there was one good thing to come of Aizen's betrayal, it was that the Ninth Squad's newspaper had upped in quality. It seemed that Vice Captain Hisagi was dedicating himself more and more to the squad's pet project, now that it was practically placed on reserve since their captain's abandonment of Sereitei.

"What is it that you play at, Bya-bya-kun?"

Sighing, Byakuya set down his newspaper and cast a weary glance at the woman that sat across from him. She was simply smiling back at him as she leaned one arm on the table, her slender fingers toying idly with her long black hair. "Good morning to you, too, Seiraryu," he replied flatly as he watched his dear sister take a dainty sip from the tea cup she held in her other hand. "Have you had any news from Rukia?"

Seiraryu's blue eyes sparkled mischievously as she took another sip of her morning tea. "Kia-chan is fine. How was your trip to your favorite bordello last night?"

"You tell me," he replied simply, before opening his paper once again. He wasn't even bothering to read any of the articles at this point; he was simply putting a distraction between him and his sister. "Have you been putting that woman's tricks to use to follow me often?"

Seiraryu laughed, her perfect white teeth flashing on her face as she reached across the table to place a hand on her brother's morning reading. She wasn't disappointed as he lowered the paper again, a frown on his refined face. "Yoruichi-senpai has a name, Bya-bya-kun," she teased playfully as she watched him fold the paper before discarding it beside his own cup of tea. He simply gave her a flat look before calmly taking a sip of his own tea. "Now, no games, brother of mine. You know what happens when the two of us start a game of chess—it goes on for decades."

"Did you meet our young guest last night?" he asked, expertly dodging the unasked question in Seiraryu's voice. "I sent Abarai back out last night to search for a receiving tea house for her. Did he report back in yet?"

Settling back on her cushion, Seiraryu continued to smile winningly at her brother. "Yes, he was rather flustered. And I do believe he had several nosebleeds last night. Please tell me you didn't give him a list of bordellos to visit, rather than proper tea houses, or even a geisha house?"

Byakuya simply arched a delicate eyebrow at her as he sipped at his tea.

"I thought I had finally convinced you that Renji is a rather good fellow," Seiraryu chuckled softly. "Yet you have gone back to toying with him. Is it that you know something you do not wish to say aloud?"

Calmly, Byakuya set down his tea cup on a small saucer in front of him. His eyes never left Seiraryu's as he gently pushed the saucer towards her, and she obligingly refilled his cup. "How was the mission I left for you and Abarai to deal with?"

"A resounding success," Seiraryu replied immediately. She was still smiling, but Byakuya could see the sudden dullness in her eyes. From what he knew of the mission, something had gone down that deeply bothered her sister. He was sure it had something to do with her failing to apprehend the rogue Shinigami that had gone berserk in the Fiftieth District of Rukongai alive. But something more important had gone down, and he was sure it was something quite inappropriate of her position. "I left the completed report on your desk last week. Did you not read it?"

"I did," he admitted. "There seemed to be a lack of detail uncharacteristic of your reports."

"Tell me, Byakuya," she drawled lazily and leaned across the table, propping her chin on both of her open hands as she did. "Do you really wish to know what happened, or to simply have your suspicions confirmed?"

He let out a huge sigh before leaning across the table himself. "We have had this talk before, Seiraryu."

"And I remind you again of our beloved Hisana's status when you brought her back to this house," Seiraryu purred smoothly. "And consequently, of Kia-chan's roots. If you are allowed to rock the boat of the nobility, brother, I do believe I am, too."

Scowling, Byakuya sat back on his cushion and pretended to busy himself with his tea again. "You've been 'rocking the boat' since we were born." He ignored the slight twinkle in Seiraryu's eyes that clearly announced that she had won this particular match of wits as she sat back herself. "Did Abarai find a place?" he asked finally, after he had emptied his cup once again.

"Of course not, you great oaf," Seiraryu replied. "You sent him to whore houses, and did you not wish to spare your precious geisha of that fate? I doubt she would do our house much honor in the employ of one of those facilities. I sent him to ask Lady Misha if she had need of a geisha."

"Lady Misha?" Byakuya's blue eyes met his sister's, and he felt his hackles rise warily. The old mistress in charge of one of the most renowned tea houses in the Twelfth District of Rukongai was notorious for her geisha's skills and professionalism. She had also taught Seiraryu many unrespectable skills that no proper noble should have. It was a place he would have assumed out of reach for Shione's current skill and experience level.

"Fukada-chan has a lot of potential," Seiraryu replied and rested her cheek back on one of her delicate hands. Her blue-eyed gaze slipped from Byakuya to wander out the wide open door of their shared tea room, where she could look out on the sprawling Japanese garden outside. "You should have seen her try to mimic my walk last night. It was rather endearing. Are you sure we can not keep her?"

"She is a geisha, Seiraryu," he murmured in response, and followed her gaze. He was mildly surprised to see that she was watching a maid servant guide the geisha in question through the further reaches of the garden, where Shione was unabashedly sticking her bare feet in one of Byakuya's prized koi ponds. He let out a huge sigh when he saw her.

"Ah, yes, another stray dog from Rukongai," Seiraryu smiled sadly. "We seem to attract them, do we not? Too bad that our kennels are so full. I haven't a clue how my ladies managed to find a spare room for her—"

"Enough, Seiraryu," Byakuya frowned and turned back to his tea cup. He was absently aware of his sister's teasing smile and the cocky glint to her eyes as she looked back at him.

"Lord and Lady Kuchiki!"

Byakuya almost spilled his tea as he abruptly set it back down on its saucer. With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and focused on calming his breathing as he listened to Shione's bare feet pad up the short set of stairs leading from the garden. To his dismay, Seiraryu greeted her cheerfully and gestured to an empty cushion at their breakfast table. A servant immediately rushed forward to set another place for Shione, before bowing to her to sit.

"Good morning! Did you sleep well, Fukada-chan?" Seiraryu purred as she watched the dainty little geisha elegantly sit down on her cushion. The young woman had cleaned up remarkably well, she was glad to see, and was clad in a clean, modest salmon-colored kimono with a red obi.

"Yes, thank you so much for your hospitality," Shione couldn't help smiling back at Byakuya's sister. She waited patiently as she offered Seiraryu her tea cup, and bowed over it as Seiraryu filled it for her. "And you, Lady Kuchiki?"

Seiraryu let out an exasperated sigh as her smile finally faded. "I'm afraid not. Mine brother had me up late running errands. Poor Renji and I didn't make it to bed till the wee hours of the morning."

Byakuya scowled at his sister as she gave him a wicked grin. "Lady Kuchiki may have found you an appropriate geisha house," he spoke slowly as he gave his sister a cold blue-eyed look. She only smiled smugly before gesturing to the servant that stood by the doorway. The man disappeared into the connecting hallway for a moment, before reappearing with a tray of breakfast pastries.

"So quickly, Lord Kuchiki?" Shione's black eyes were wide in innocence as she looked up at him, her tea cup raised half way to her full lips. "I must admit, that is rather surprising. It took my old mistress two months to find a buyer for my contract."

"Lucky for us that House Kuchiki has many connections," he rumbled before closing his eyes and feigning disinterest in his unwelcome breakfast companion. He failed miserably, though, as Shione let out a surprised gasp when the manservant placed the try of pastries on the table before them.

He didn't even bother trying to hide his frown as his sister chatted easily with the amateur geisha as the two shamelessly started eating, not even bothering to wait for Byakuya to take the first bite. He simply sat in silence as he picked at one of his favorite pastries—a swirled bun iced with a cinnamon glaze that the house chefs had picked up from a western dish in the living world. It would be his luck, he thought as he scowled at a bit of icing marring Shione's pink lips, that he would end up aiding a geisha that was just as ornery as his twin sister.

* * *

Seiraryu was actually one of the first OCs I made for my Bleach fanfics. I'm thinking I'll start posting a Renji x Seiraryu fic that I have scrawled in one of my notebooks one of these days, after I edit the crap out of it and what not. Her personality has changed radically from the first story about them to what I have in this fic, lol, along with her relationship with Byakuya and her place in the Kuchiki Clan. I'll have to fiddle around with it.

Thank you for all your feedback on the last chapter! I'm glad that it went over so well. =) I hope this one is just as much of a success!


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Sound of the Tide  
Chapter: 3/?  
Rating: PG!  
Warnings: Mature themes, no naughty stuff, though.  
Pairings: Byakuya x OC, Renji x OC  
Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. In Japan, this would be considered as a great tribute to his sucess and genius. In America, not so much. :( Fukada Shione and Kuchiki Seiraryu are my own little creations, though, so please ask for permission if you want to use them for anything~  
A/N: I know that this story is not as fast paced and romantically aggressive as "Blessed Victory", and I apologize if that was the sort of thing you were looking for out of me once again. But I don't really think it would be in character for Bya-bya-kun! The romance shall be coming soon enough, though, don't you worry! I think Byakuya just requires a bit of slow, careful seduction...teehee. And come on, he is technically damaged goods (in the sense of his dead wife). Shione needs to take it slowly with the poor man~.

* * *

Fukada Shione blushed as she looked up, and up, and up. Her black eyes grew wide in awe as she took in the six story building the Kuchiki house sedan had finally stopped in front of. Kuchiki Seiraryu was by her side, politely waiting as she followed Shione's gaze. "It's huge," Shione spoke breathlessly.

Seiraryu unfurled a silk fan that she had kept in her obi and politely covered her grin as she cast a look at Shione. "It is tall, yes," she laughed softly, her voice a husky purr that had Shione blushing more profusely. "The first two floors Lady Misha uses to entertain guests. The third consists of her training rooms. The top two are the dormitories."

"She trains that many women?" Shione finally clamped her mouth shut as she suddenly looked down at her feet. She was clad in the Kuchiki House kimono, a stale black affair with traditional wooden sandals. She hadn't been so…plainly dressed for a good three decades. She felt self-conscious without her bright and ornate silk kimono, or her dainty little slippers.

Seiraryu's eyes were laughing over the rim of her fan as she finally started heading towards the giant house. "No. Lady Misha also matrons a women's dormitory for women who are working away from home."

"You mean women whose families sold them into slavery," Shione frowned suddenly, her voice bitter as she fell in to step beside Seiraryu. Her little hands curled to fists at her side, which she quickly hid up her loose sleeves.

"So jaded for one so young," Seiraryu admonished playfully. Shione looked at her shyly from the corner of her eye. Lady Kuchiki, even in a black Shinigami's kimono, looked very elegant and feminine. She was tall, just as her brother was, and it gave her a very slender look. "Yes, you could say some of her residents were 'sold'. Is that your story, too, little Fukada-chan?"

"N-no," Shione lied and looked back at her feet.

Seiraryu snapped her fan closed abruptly and paused just outside the open gates to Lady Misha's household. With a small frown on her face, she turned to face Shione. "Now, you must remember that many of these women were put into service to aid their families. They work in the local factories and businesses to supplement the income of their houses. Do not offend them, Fukada-chan."

Shione obediently folded her hands in her lap and bowed to Seiraryu, her entire face turning a bright red. "Yes, Kuchiki-chan."

With a small sigh, Seiraryu's coy little smile was back on her lips. "And may I suggest that if you do run into any women that were 'sold', as you put it, that you not add salt to their wounds. In specific, Lady Misha would not take well to that sort of thing."

Alarmed, Shione looked back up into Seiraryu's laughing eyes. "Lady Misha was…?"

"Sometimes, Fukada-chan, women are better off being sold into the services of a trade. Sometimes, not so much," Seiraryu shrugged elegantly and turned back to the house. "Lady Misha took the cards fate dealt her and played them to her best advantage. She is a rather successful business woman now, with the respect of even the four noble houses. I suggest you keep this lesson in mind as you complete your training under Lady Misha's keen eyes."

"Yes, Kuchiki-chan," Shione nodded and hurried to catch up to Seiraryu. The woman's elegant glide covered ground surprisingly fast. The best Shione could do while she was concentrating on her walk was hardly as fast as her normal pace…

"Misha-chan!" Seiraryu called out in a high pitched, carrying voice the minute her sandaled foot touched the first step to Lady Misha's household. Immediately, the previously quiet house went into an uproar. Servants came bursting out the door, looking frenzied and panicked as they rushed to greet the two women. Above the din, a loud booming voice shouted insults and orders.

"Who the hell was supposed to be watching the gates!" the deep woman's voice roared. Just as the words died off, another servant came bumbling out of the house and rushed to take up a position at the gate, only pausing long enough to give Seiraryu and Shione a quick bow. "Where are the hostlers? Don't keep Lady Kuchiki's servants standing out in the heat! Benkei! Get that tea service ready, for the love of the gods!"

Shione was completely floored. Her eyes were wide in blatant shock and surprise as she froze where she stood on the stairway. Seiraryu was already on the top landing, her fan covering her mouth once again as she turned a laughing look towards Seiraryu. "It seems we are a tad bit early," the lady chuckled mischievously. "Oh, the tragedy."

"Seiraryu! You troublesome whelp!" the booming voice manifested into the shape of a rotund, squat little Japanese woman as she walked through the open doorway. She was clad in a colorful purple and gold kimono, her pitch black hair piled on top of her head in a traditional bun. Her face makeup was plain: her lips were painted red, her eyelids a soft blue, and blush colored her cheeks. "You know the house is not open before noon," the woman's voice was threatening, but her own black eyes were dancing with amusement as she cast an all-seeing gaze over Seiraryu.

"Is that so?" Seiraryu purred as her and the woman faced each other, both of them dipping into shallow but respectful bows. "It has been so long that I must have forgotten, Misha-chan. You have my most sincere apologies."

"I'm sure I do," the woman laughed. She and Seiraryu smiled at each other for a moment, before the woman's attention slipped suddenly to Shione. "Is this the girl?" and then she was all booming, commanding business once again. She moved gracefully and elegantly for such a chubby woman as she stepped past Seiraryu to get a better look at Shione.

"I am Fukada Shione—"

"You will speak when spoken to, girl," Lady Misha cut in abruptly, a frown turning her plump lips downwards as she ran judging eyes over Shione, from head to toe. "I was addressing your mistress, not you."

Frowning, Shione drew herself up taller and tried to look as prideful as she could in her pallid kimono. She stared at the woman defiantly, even if she was too busy scrutinizing every inch of Shione's body.

"She is skinny!" Lady Misha snapped over her shoulder at Seiraryu. "Has the Kuchiki house hospitality fallen? Do I need to have another chat with that troublesome brother of yours, Seiraryu?"

Seiraryu's eyes were still laughing and she was still hiding her smile behind a fan. "Mine brother just recently discovered he was patronizing Fukada-chan. We just acquired her last night from a less than suitable tea house that was not keeping her and her fellow geisha properly supplied, and consequently under fed."

"Well," Lady Misha huffed irritably and turned back to Shione, stepping down onto the stairs so that she could look the young woman over from every angle. "A little fat will round out that rump," she grumbled under her breath, patting Shione soundly on said part of her anatomy. Shione jumped in surprise where she stood, turning an offended eye on to the elderly woman. "How many years have you been training, girl?"

Glaring in resignation, Shione drew herself up tall once again. "Twenty-two years, Lady Misha," she grumbled under her breath.

"No mumbling! Speak up!" Lady Misha snapped, whacking Shione soundly with a heavy iron fan that she had tucked up her sleeve. "That is not how a lady acts, nor a geisha!"

"Twenty-two years, Lady Misha," Shione replied hurriedly, speaking louder and more clearly.

Lady Misha snorted. "She has potential, I suppose, Seiraryu. Lucky for you I have a spare bed and time to waste on this skinny little whelp."

"I knew you would like her," Seiraryu waved her fan lazily. "How long do you think it will take until her premier?"

"I have already had my premier!" Shione spoke up despite the flesh-searing look Lady Misha sent her way.

Shione received another sound whack from her fan as a response. "Do not address the nobility in such a manner, child!" Lady Misha bellowed. "A premier in the twentieth district is not a true geisha premier! Lady Kuchiki has told me of your experience, do not think just because you refused that bastardized practice of a mizuage ceremony that you are on par with geisha of the tenth district!"

"Now, now, Lady Misha," Seiraryu scolded the older woman gently. "Go easy on poor little Fukada-chan. She has grown complacent in my company, you know how I am."

"Be that as it may," Lady Misha huffed, "From this moment forth you are you are to act every part of a geisha. You will address Lady Kuchiki appropriately at all times! Being complacent with one noble will cause you to be complacent with all!"

Shione cast a pleading look towards Seiraryu, silently begging her to take her back to the Kuchiki house and away from the horrid lady that was still bellowing orders into her ear. Seiraryu simply held her fan higher up to best hide her laughing smile. Each word that came out of Lady Misha's mouth seemed to only deflate Shione's spirit, her shoulders slowly slumping forward until she stood, hunched and defeated, on the stairway.

"Shoulders back!" Misha snapped and whacked Shione with her fan once again. "Geisha are no hunch backs!"

**XXXX**

Kuchiki Byakuya was frowning slightly as he walked the rather quiet halls of his house. His cool blue eyes were emotionless as he peeked into one room after the next, checking on the contents or inhabitants of each. Several times he had interrupted a raucous gambling game among house guards on break, and unintentionally broke up their fun. He had not intended to appear as if he were dissatisfied with his men, but apparently the slight frown on his face caused them to mistake his current mood…

With a soft sigh he passed by another loud room, not even bothering this time to peak his head around the open doorway to check to see who was there. All he heard was the usual household gossip that several of Seiraryu's ladies-in-waiting were so obsessed with. They were chatting over the Kuchiki house's latest "pet", the geisha that was staying in Lady Seiraryu's house.

Unfortunately for Byakuya, said geisha was currently missing. His frown deepened in irritation as he stepped out from under the eaves of the servants' dormitory and made his way back towards his twin sister's apartments. He had spent the entire morning making arrangements for a particular gift he had in store for Fukada Shione, and when he had sent a servant to summon her, he had not expected the girl to turn up missing.

He checked every garden and koi pond on the property, had thoroughly dissected each of Seiraryu's rooms, and had even checked the rooms in his own house before he had turned to the servants' areas. But no matter where he looked, the dainty little geisha was nowhere to be seen.

His footsteps were completely silent as he ascended a short stair case to the large welcoming room of Seiraryu's house, but his sister had heard him anyway. "This is a rather beautiful present, Bya-bya-kun," Seiraryu sighed wistfully from where she stood, her back turned to Byakuya. She was standing before the present Byakuya had his servants deliver to the house, her slender fingers rubbing a layer of expensive silk between them. "Unexpected, but beautiful." And then Seiraryu was grinning wickedly at him. "You have never bought me a kimono like this before."

"It was for the girl," Byakuya huffed and went to stand beside his sister. "Those kimono she own are not of the quality a geisha under House Kuchiki's patronage should be wearing. The other noble families would think us miserly if she served a party in those rags."

"Such a well planned excuse, Bya-bya-kun," Seiraryu giggled. "It makes one think that you are being defensive."

"I was merely explaining my intentions," Byakuya replied regally as he folded his arms behind his back. He and his sister stood in silence for a few moments, admiring the ornate kimono on display in Seiraryu's room. The thing was of the most expensive silks that Byakuya could manage, and stylized with arching white cranes and shoots of pale green bamboo on a gold back round. "Where is the geisha, by the way?" he asked after a moment.

Shione looked at him with a knowing little smile on her lips. "She has already left and is now staying with Lady Misha. Did I forget to tell you this morning?"

Frowning at his sister, Byakuya nodded his head. "You simply said that you sent word to Lady Misha."

"Oh, what a shame," Seiraryu shrugged dismissively.

Byakuya's frown deepened as he cast a cold blue-eyed look at his sister. She simply held out one of her slender hands to him expectantly. When he only replied with a quirked eyebrow, she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"It is Tuesday," she reminded him, and wiggled her fingers as if she were waiting for him to give her something. "Abarai-kun is waiting."

Out right scowling, Byakuya slowly unwound his scarf from around his neck. He placed the heavy cloth in Seiraryu's open hand before he began to strip out of his haori. He should have known that his sister would not let him go about his duties without her assistance. "One wonders why you and Abarai spend so much time together," he spoke quietly, a threat in his voice as he shoved his haori into his sister's hands.

"Dear brother, you chose him as your Vice Captain, not I," she purred and pulled the heavy haori over her own slender shoulders. Her blue eyes were locked with his as she deftly wound his scarf around her elegant neck, her round chin lifting in stubborn defiance as she did.

"Not without your meddling," he huffed, and watched as she checked her zanpakutou at her hip. The hilt of her sword looked almost exactly as his own, but the color was a blue so deep it was nearly black, unlike the pink hilt wrapping of Senbonzakura.

"He was the most deserving, admit it," Seiraryu replied absently, her smile temporarily faded as she started concentrating on her reiatsu.

Byakuya's frown only deepened as he watched his sister weave an ornate flow of kidou. Like everyone of the Kuchiki clan, his sister was an astoundingly adept student of kidou. So much so, that she had been able to master some of the higher tier spells that he had not. Slowly, a shimmering golden veil started to wrap around his sister as she murmured incomprehensible words under her breath. The veil settled in on her skin, clinging to her tightly like a shroud. As the light faded, Byakuya found himself staring in to his own face.

"How do I look?" his doppelganger asked, quirking a cool eyebrow.

"Like me," Byakuya huffed, and scowled disapprovingly as his sister, posing as him, checked herself in a nearby mirror. "I thought you tired of playing dress up?"

"I did," she replied, her voice deep, masculine, a perfect match of Byakuya's voice. "Until you finally obtained my freedom from that wretched device father put on me. Then I discovered, oddly enough, that I rather enjoy playing soldier."

"You should just enlist in one of the court squads," Byakuya let out a sigh, resigning himself to his fate. He would have to pass another day either locked up in his house, or gallivanting around Rukongai taking care of house business; all while Seiraryu ran the Sixth Squad for the day. "High Commander Yamamoto is still demanding that I make you apply for the rank of captain in one of the vacancies."

"Make me?" Seiraryu-turned-Byakuya smiled uncharacteristically as she turned to face the real Byakuya.

"That's what I said," Byakuya sighed again, before waving a hand at her flippantly. "Leave before someone finds us like this."

She shrugged, gliding across the distance between them in another uncharacteristic manner for Byakuya. He knew she did it just to annoy him, and that the moment she was out of the room she would be a perfect mimic. Still, he let out another irritated sigh as she placed a quick kiss on his cheek and practically skipped out of the room. He always hated when she did that.

* * *

And so it begins. Poor Byakuya, buying pretty things for his new toy, only to have her turn up poofed. And what's this with Seiraryu? More to come!!!

Thanks for all the feedback! I appreciate it, as always! I'm glad so many of you like Shione and Seiraryu, they make me happy inside. Hopefully Misha will become another one of those loveable misfits.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Sound of the Tide  
Chapter: 4/?  
Rating: PG-13!  
Warnings: Umm. I don't think I even used a single curse word in this chapter. O_o  
Pairings: Byakuya x OC, Renji x OC  
Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. In Japan, this would be considered as a great tribute to his sucess and genius. In America, not so much. :( Fukada Shione and Kuchiki Seiraryu are my own little creations, though, so please ask for permission if you want to use them for anything~  
A/N: Here's your long awaited update! I suppose it's more of a character development chapter, with a bit of plot revelation.

* * *

Lady Misha let out a resigned sigh as she shifted where she sat on her plush floor pillow. While she was weary of the long days of classes that she had been over seeing for the past few weeks, her keen eyes still took in all in her domain. She could see each of the young geisha-in-training that had either come to her for tutelage, or were forced into the art by their families. They were women of varying ages—the youngest a girl with no more than seventy-two years under her belt, and a handsome housewife well into her four-hundredth decade. But one of them in specific caught her eye. "Hunch back!" she barked out abruptly.

Only a few of the girls jumped in surprise, most of them had acclimated to Lady Misha's occasional short staccato out bursts by now. The one in question, though, simply let out a huge sigh and turned to Lady Misha in resignation. "Yes, Misha sensei?" Fukada Shione mumbled while the other girls continued with the dance pattern they were practicing.

Lady Misha snapped her iron lady's fan closed, and as she rose she tucked it into the secure fit of her obi. She simply crooked a finger at the young girl that the Kuchiki House was sponsoring, and turned and left the room. She didn't wait to see if the girl followed or not—she knew she would. None of them dared defy her, lest they end up kicked out on their tufts in the street outside.

Shione let out another sigh as she followed the elder woman obediently, her posture sloppy and her feet dragging. She had been at Lady Misha's for well over two weeks now and still hadn't warmed up to the whole thing. Why had she spent so many years training as a geisha, after all, if she was just to end up back in a training house? Lady Misha had thrown her into the beginner's classes along with all the new, untrained talent that recently came to her. And it had become readily apparent within the first day that Shione held more talent than all of them combined.

As far as she was concerned, she was already a geisha.

But still she woke sharply every day at five in the morning to go about her morning chores at the women's house. She ate breakfast with the other boarders in the communal kitchen by six, and was washed and ready for the day's training by seven. Day after day she followed the same routine—if a bit resigned. The only reason she was still here, she kept telling herself, was because she was dead set on doing the Kuchiki House proud.

So why, then, was it that Lady Misha always seemed to pick on her? No matter how hard Shione tried to display how adept she was at the simple novice talents that Lady Misha asked of her, she was never good enough for the woman. No matter how perfect her walk, how beautiful the haiku, or moving the song, she simply could not impress the bitter old bat.

So, Shione glared shamelessly at the back of Lady Misha's head as she followed the woman down the hall and in to an adjacent room. This one was much smaller and typically used to practice tea ceremonies—not the intricate dances that she had been performing next door.

Silently, Shione turned to close the door behind them as Lady Misha flapped a hand at her over her shoulder. When she turned back around, Lady Misha was unceremoniously pushing the tea tables against one wall, and throwing the sea cushions on top of them. "Lady Misha…?" Shione inquired curiously as she watched the woman finish up by shoving an antique tea set into a cabinet.

"You will disgrace Lord Kuchiki and his sister at this rate," Lady Misha huffed irritably, without an ounce of consideration for Shione's feelings. "For one that has proclaimed herself an already accomplished geisha, you are incredibly lacking."

Pride thoroughly wounded, Shione drew herself up taller as she tried to muster all the arrogance she possessed. She opened her small, full lips to protest, only to have Lady Misha flap another dismissive hand at her.

"I have said it before, Hunch Back," Lady Misha continued, using her favorite nickname for the thin girl that Kuchiki Seiraryu had dumped on her doorstep two weeks ago. "You may be a talented geisha in the district you came from, but here you are simply at an apprentice's level. If you ever wish to entertain the noble families, which undoubtedly Lord Kuchiki wishes and expects of you, then you must work harder!"

"But Lady Misha, I have been trying my hardest—"

"Like hell you have," Lady Misha snapped as she finally turned on her heel to confront the petite geisha-in-training. Her small beady black eyes were on fire as she stormed up to the girl, her perfectly plucked and painted eyebrows furrowed in a scowl. "If you continue to act as if being here is an insult, then you can get out of my house right this minute."

The two women stared at each other for a tense moment, before Shione finally broke eye contact and looked down to her dainty little feet. She blushed profusely, before bowing her head in submission. "My apologies, Lady Misha."

Lady Misha sniffed disdainfully and gave Shione was once-over, before turning and gliding elegantly into the center of the room. "Now," she purred, no longer the gruff and demanding woman that had threatened Shione only mere moments ago, but a rotund geisha—a master of her art. "A geisha must know how to walk before she can dance," she said, her voice soft and whispery. Her feet were silent on the tatami mat floor as she started to walk to the other side of the room. Shione watched her, completely stunned and awed at the woman's natural grace.

She was better than Lady Kuchiki.

Lady Misha paused at the other end of the room, before she underwent the transformation back into the no-bullshit woman that Shione knew her to be. Turning gruffly on her heel, Lady Misha scowled and crossed her arms over her generous chest. "Now, show me."

Breathing in deeply, Shione drew herself up tall and put her hands up the opposing sleeves of her kimono. She watched Lady Misha as she stepped forward, her mind focused entirely on moving her body in the way that would best result in the perfect geisha walk. She felt as if she were walking on clouds, she moved so fluidly. Her hips rolled perfectly, her foot steps were soft and silent, and her gait was even and sure. When she finally stopped in front of Lady Misha, she smiled smugly at the woman, and waited.

Lady Misha simply grabbed her fan from her obi, and whacked Shione soundly on the head. "Again!" she barked as Shione shrank away and rubbed at her offended scalp. "You are too tense! You look as if you're walking with a stick shoved up that tiny ass of yours!"

Frowning, Shione turned and walked the length of the room again, and back. She earned another sound swat on her head. "What am I doing wrong!" she barked impatiently, her hands curled into fists at her side.

"You are trying too hard," Lady Misha huffed, earning a stunned and appalled look from Shione. Sighing, Lady Misha turned Shione around again. "Walk normally, as you would on the streets."

Scowling the entire time, Shione walked the room again. When she returned to Lady Misha, she simply gave the woman a flat stare. "You told me to try harder," she muttered under her breath.

Lady Misha flapped a hand at her. "You try to mimic my walk, or Lady Kuchiki's. Every woman has a different walk, Fukada. When you try to walk as I do, you simply look unnatural. Uptight. Your body does not flow fluidly as it should."

Shione was still staring at her emotionlessly.

"When you walk the room again as you naturally do, focus on the way your _entire_ body moves, from your arms, to your back, to your thighs and feet. Feel how natural it is to you and then think of how you can make it as fluid as water flowing in a brook," Lady Misha instructed her, and turned the young girl around to walk again.

Sighing, Shione walked across the room again. This time, she focused on being aware of herself rather than forcing her body to move in ways it did not normally do. Slowly, as she neared the opposite side of the room, she realized exactly what Lady Misha meant. Lady Kuchiki was elegant and walked like a great, graceful tigress on the hunt. Lady Misha was sure and confident, like the slow and inevitable advance of a wildfire. Shione was…different.

"Now, when you come back, walk as a geisha."

Shione turned slowly, her face still focused as she mulled over Lady Misha's ideas. The woman wanted Shione to be fluid—to let her body flow naturally. She slipped easily into a comfortable posture; she wasn't uptight and arrogant, she wasn't standing at her tallest, but she was _comfortable_ and her posture was perfect. Her shoulders were back, her chest proud, and her first step was soft and sure. She walked across the floor back to Lady Misha, still thinking as she did.

Lady Misha surprised her out of her thoughts with a short round of applause. "Much better, Hunch Back," the older woman grinned wickedly, before walking to the door of the tea room. "Now practice the rest of the afternoon. After dinner, you may have a free night to do as you wish."

And with that, Lady Misha left Shione alone in the small tea room. Face hot and flustered, Shione simply stared at the open door for a moment before she managed to shake herself back to reality. Blushing, she smoothed out her kimono and looked around herself.

Well, hell, maybe she did have a thing or two to learn.

**XXXX**

Abarai Renji was blushing profusely where he sat, uptight and rigid on a plush cushion in Captain Kuchiki's office at the Sixth Squad's headquarters. His large hands were sweaty and fisted tightly on his lap as he tried to pretend that he was okay—that he wasn't extremely disturbed. But dear gods was he.

"I think we need to order more uniforms," Captain Kuchiki drawled from beside Renji as he leaned across him to grab a scroll.

Renji swallowed audibly. His captain's side was flush against his where the two men sat, and reaching across the table didn't help. Mustering himself, Renji turned slowly to stare at the man beside him. "I really hate it when you do this."

Captain Kuchiki paused mid-reach to look at Renji, his blue eyes wide in momentary puzzlement. Then as if he had remembered something obvious, he nodded in understanding. "I forget sometimes," he pouted, bottom lip jutting out uncharacteristically.

"See, that right there," Renji muttered and pointed an accusing finger at Byakuya's mouth. "That's what I'm talking about."

Sighing, Kuchiki Byakuya stood up abruptly and crossed the room to the rice paper door that was all that stood between the privacy of his office and the other officers of his squad. He pulled it open, and spoke to the guard that stood outside it, "Abarai and I are going over mission reports, if anyone asks. We are not to be disturbed, and you are to stand guard at the end of the hall."

The guard saluted him obediently before turning and obeying Byakuya's orders, leaving the cool and calm captain of the Sixth to close the door and lock it securely. With a coy grin on his face, Byakuya turned and leaned back against the door jam. "Better?" he purred in a distinctly feminine voice.

Renji was still looking at him with a flat expression, his whole body tense. "No."

Still grinning, Byakuya pushed off the door and glided towards Renji in a _very _feminine manner—his hips rolling seductively, his arms swinging lazily at his sides. As he walked, his entire body began to change, starting with his sharp face. His chin rounded slightly, his cheeks jaw growing slender and delicate even as his entire body lost the bulk of thick muscles. Renji struggled not to avert his eyes as his captain's kimono filled out with an impressive set of breasts that showed enough cleavage to give Matsumoto a run for her money. "I could get in trouble for this, you know," Kuchiki Seiraryu drawled as she paused by Renji's side, swaying ever so slightly on her small feet as she looked down at him.

"I doubt it," Renji replied gruffly, still slightly disturbed. It was never easy for him to watch his captain—ice cold and rock steady Kuchiki Byakuya—slowly morph to become his wily and seductive twin sister. Especially after Seiraryu had a lapse in her disguise and acted so casually around Renji.

Laughing softly, Seiraryu elegantly sank onto the cushion beside Renji. She watched him coyly out the corner of her eyes as she settled in, scooting just close enough to him that their hips touched. Renji swallowed another knot in his throat as she redirected her attention back onto the piles of paper that were spread on the desk in front of them. "I was thinking we need at least thirty for the armory. What do you think?"

"I'm not thinking about the stupid uniforms," Renji was scowling now, his lips set into a thin line as Seiraryu turned back to look at him. Her clear blue eyes were sparkling mischievously as she gave him an innocent look. "I thought you were done playing Byakuya?"

Rolling her eyes, Seiraryu leaned towards Renji to place a soft kiss on the tip of his nose. "Mine brother said the same thing only a few weeks ago."

"Well," Renji huffed, his blush redoubling as he tried to busy his hands with a sheaf of paper. "It's just you went through all that crap to get your independence, and you're still dressing up as him and taking a hefty load of his responsibilities."

Seiraryu's smile faded from her full lips as she let out a weary sigh, her body sagging against Renji's side. He jumped in surprise and looked down at her, before slowly lifting an arm for her to tuck herself against his side. He hesitantly slung his arm around her slender shoulders as he waited for her to finish thinking.

Finally, she grabbed his other hand in hers and started to idly toy with his callused fingers. "Byakuya and all the house elders expect me to take my proper place," she murmured quietly and pressed one of her slender hands against his, palm to palm. She smiled slightly as she looked at his tan skin against her pale skin, his long fingers topping hers by an entire joint. "They want me back in those silly kimonos, with all sorts of junk in my hair while I hold court or do lady things. They want me to get married, you know."

At that, Renji fidgeted uncomfortably. He tried to pass it off as him simply trying to find a better position for him to hold her lithe body, but he didn't fool her. She jabbed him in the leg with a manicured finger nail.

"I don't want to get married, Renji," she said purposefully, her blue eyes meeting his in a meaningful look. "At least, not some arranged marriage to some prissy noble three times older than me, and not for the reasons the elders expect of me."

Renji nodded silently, grimly, before he intertwined his fingers with hers.

"You know I hate lady things," she muttered and settled back against him. "All they want me to do is sit around looking pretty while I embroider a pillow or something. They just want me to have a political marriage and pop out babies as soon as I can. I don't want any of that."

"So you'll settle for Byakuya's life, is that it?" Renji finally spoke up, his voice firm and strong.

"No," she was quick to answer as she sat up, turning to face him. Her jaw worked soundlessly as she struggled to find the right words—something Renji knew to be a rarity. Because as much as Seiraryu preached about hating the politics and duties of being a noblewoman, he knew she always enjoyed a good challenging game to play at. She was one of the most eloquent people he had ever met. To see her speechless spoke of how important and disarrayed her thoughts were. "Mine brother needs me," she finally answered, her hands smoothing out Renji's kimono. "Before, I played as him because I was forced to by our father. Now, I do it because I want to. I want to help mine brother. And I want something more to look forward in my days than throwing tea parties and making pillow cushions. I need…something more than just you and Byakuya."

They were both silent for a moment, Seiraryu's big blue eyes wide and begging for Renji to understand. He watched her for a moment as he thought, before he cupped her cheek with one of his big hands. "I get it," he murmured as she turned her face into his touch, her eyes closing as she smiled. "I'm just not sure if this is the right way."

She nodded slightly. "I just need to get Bya-bya-kun back on his feet, Renji," she whispered. "Then I can figure out my own life."

Renji grunted grumpily, his body leaning in to hers to tease her lips with his. "Has he been drinking again?"

"You have no idea," Seiraryu was breathless as Renji wrapped his arms around her, before their lips met in a sultry kiss.

* * *

Hmm drinking? Ruh roh.

I've been working on the fic I wrote eons ago about Renji and Seiraryu meeting, and have debated how to incorporate it. I'm torn between just putting in flash backs, or posting an entirely different story altogether. The good news is that if I do, it's pretty much complete and just needs revisions for the changes I made in "Sound of the Tide", so it would get put up pretty quickly and probably be a finished work.

Any thoughts or suggestions? You know how I love the feedback.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Sound of the Tide  
Chapter: 5/?  
Rating: M. Ish.  
Warnings: Adult themes, and cursing, like usualy. Nothing explicit (yet).  
Pairings: Byakuya x OC, Renji x OC  
Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. In Japan, this would be considered as a great tribute to his sucess and genius. In America, not so much. :(  
A/N: After an incredibly long-lived absence, I hath returned! My first year at my new college kicked my booty, and I loved it. Except for the broken bones parts. But eh!

* * *

Wearing the clothes of House Kuchiki's servants, Shione had snuck out. She knew she wasn't supposed to—Lady Misha was very particular about keeping her geisha in training hidden and tucked away from the public eye. Something about adding a mysterious allure or some such. Shione didn't particularly agree, being of the camp of thought that being out in the public would only help her gain popularity before her second debut. But it was Lady Misha's house, so it was Lady Misha's rules.

Shione made sure no one saw her slip out in the wee hours of the morning. She walked quickly and briskly through the streets, and made sure that she didn't float over the cobblestones like Lady Misha had trained her to. Her face was void of make up, and her pitch black hair pulled up in an orderly bun.

No one bothered her as she rushed towards Sereitei, and the Kuchiki House.

It wasn't as if Lady Misha were abusive or anything. Shione found that she actually quite enjoyed the old woman's company, once she had stopped calling Shione a whole slew of crude nick names. A veritable well spring of knowledge, Lady Misha never steered Shione wrong. She had learned so much…

But the women's boarding house held no love for her. Her fellow geisha in training avoided her and talked about her behind her back, being that she was Lord Kuchiki's newest bauble to flaunt off to the nobility. And Lady Kuchiki's patronage was no help, also. The girls thought that Lady Misha was playing favorites where Shione was concerned.

Favorites. Hah! If anything, Lady Misha was tougher on Shione than anyone. But that didn't keep the vipers from hissing in the bushes.

The servants pandered to her as if she were nobility—yet another way to induce the ire of the other geisha. No one wanted to step on her toes or get in her way. Trying to garner favor, to get their foot in the door of the Kuchiki house…?

Shione didn't know, and she didn't care. All she was concerned about was that it left her not a single soul in the boarding house to befriend. Not even the women who worked in the local factories—they left early before the sun rose and worked until it set. Shione only ever saw them at night, when they slept in preparation for the next day.

She was lonely. She didn't want to spend any more time at the boarding house with only Lady Misha's company. If she could get to Lady Kuchiki, maybe some other arrangements could be made…? Preferably, with the Kuchiki House remaining anonymous as her patrons? At least until her second debut?

Merchants were bustling about in the early morning traffic, hurrying to make their early morning deliveries to the local businesses surrounding Lady Misha's boarding house. Factory workers were pouring out onto the streets, chattering jovially to each other despite the long day of labor that was in store.

Shione kept her head down and moved as quickly as possible, without directing attention to herself.

Once at the gates to Sereitei, the gate guards simply gave her a quick look over and let her through. She didn't think that it would be so easy to enter the hub of Soul Society, with or without her servant's clothes. Apparently, though, being a member of House Kuchiki granted her many more rights than she had first anticipated.

Shinigami were everywhere as she rushed down one street after the next. A blush staining her cheeks, she kept her eyes down and ignored the various cat calls that went up as she passed a particularly rambunctious group. She didn't know what squad they belonged to, nor did she particularly care. What mattered was getting the hell away before one of them got some idea into their head.

Did Shinigami do things like that? She wondered as she ducked down a random street that turned away from the laughing men. Growing up in Rukongai, she had always been aware of the…depravities that some men could relish in. She had never been a victim herself, of course, but some of the girls at the geisha house she initially trained at…

Certainly no one would bother her since she sported Kuchiki's colors, though. That was just invoking the wrath of the gods, wasn't it?

"What's this little duckling doin' so far from home?" a deep voice drawled, snapping Shione's head up and away from the pavers under her feet.

She gulped audibly as she craned her neck backwards to regard the humongous man that she had nearly collided in to. He was massive, standing with his chest at eye level to her. Broad shoulders filled out a shihakusho with impressive width, his bare chest straining at his uniform as he tilted his head to the side to consider her. A vicious scar split his face vertically through one eye. The other was hidden with an eye patch.

Shione shrank to try and make herself look as small as possible.

The behemoth in front of her was wearing a captain's haori.

"You talk, little duckling?" the captain demanded roughly, one corner of his thin, cruel lips drawing up in a sneer. He wasn't reacting to her display of submissiveness very well, it seemed.

"S-sorry, Captain, sir," she stammered and decided to switch tactics. How would he like a rather terrified little servant trying to act tough? She stood tall, squared her shoulders, and met him directly in the eye.

She tried not to stare at the eye patch, but she kept on staring anyway. Her knees kept shaking, too.

H

If it were even possibly, the behemoth captain turned even scarier as he scowled at her. "A Kuchiki duckling so far away from the nest is never a good thing. Whatcha doin' in my area, kid?"

Quick, brain, think fast! "I got lost on my way back from the markets, sir," she lifted her chin stubbornly and hoped she looked indignant enough that he'd let it off at that.

He quirked an eyebrow and did his curious vicious dog head tilt the other direction. "Don't look like you had much business in the markets. Where's your shit if you went shoppin'?"

Aw, crap. She hadn't thought of that.

"And what the hell you doin' so far off course, hm?" he took a step closer to her and took his sweet ass time putting a big paw on the hilt of the zanpakutou he wore at his hip.

There was no hiding the terrified look in her eyes as she stared purposefully at his sword. She didn't know much about the captains, or Sereitei, or even Shinigami. But she knew enough that she did _not_ want that brute drawing his sword. "I was running a message!" she squeaked.

That seemed to be the tidbit he was looking for. The captain grinned, a huge, slow grin that made him look like a hungry wolf. "Is that so? Any idea what that message was?"

"N-no!"

"Who was it from? Kuchiki? Who he running messages to in the markets, hm?" the behemoth advanced on her excitedly, the epitome of a wolf on the trail of a particularly tasty scent.

"I-I don't—" she took a couple steps back, wondering if she were fast enough to turn tail and run. But that pack of mangy-looking Shinigami was waiting if she headed back the way she came!

"Or were you just spyin' for that prick, huh?" the captain barely moved as his thumb unlocked his zanpakutou from its sheathe. His other hand moved to grab the hilt.

Shione nearly collapsed where she was. Oh gods, how would it be her luck that this would happen the _one_ time she broke Lady Misha's rules?

"Leave the poor girl alone, Kenpachi," a woman's voice sighed half heartedly from somewhere behind the mammoth captain.

The captain's face fell as if someone had taken his juicy bone away. With a huge sigh, he rolled his one visible eye and let his blade slide home. "For fuck's sake, woman. You suck the fun out of life."

"I'm sure I do," a tall, lithe woman gently pushed the fuming captain to the side. The way the man acted, it seemed as if he had simply put himself between Shione and the woman to guard her. From who? Surely not Shione.

She was just a geisha disguised as a servant, for the love of the gods!

The woman smiled, gray eyes gentle in an elfin face. Auburn curls fell over her shoulder as she reached a friendly hand out to Shione. "Ignore him. He has all the manners of a gutter rat when he sees a Kuchiki House servant."

The captain muttered something under his breath, but the woman ignored him as Shione reluctantly took her hand. "Thank you," she squeaked as the Shinigami hauled her to her feet.

"I ain't done with the runt yet, Katsue," the captain barked irritably.

"And I told you to leave her alone," Katsue turned to give him a coy look that had Shione blushing. "You have better things to do than harass a messenger."

The captain growled angrily, but he had seen the same look that Shione had. His beady black eye raked over the gray-eyed woman appreciatively, before darting back to consider Shione. At least he wasn't scowling at her anymore. "Like?" he grunted.

"I think you know," the woman replied suggestively, before giving Shione one last knowing grin. She stepped around Shione, heading towards the ravenous pack of Shinigami that would undoubtedly scrape and bow to the captain that followed reluctantly.

The captain gave Shione a resigned look as he passed her, before his eyes latched onto Katsue's swaying hips. The Kuchiki messenger no longer existed to him, so long as that sauntering Shinigami was in front of him.

Shione ran without looking back, terror lending her speed as she simply flew past any more Shinigami or white-robed captains. Complaints would get back to Captain Kuchiki, but she didn't care anymore. She just didn't want to get stopped by any more scary Soul Reapers with some vendetta against the nobles that paid her bills.

She didn't stop running until she bolted through the tall arches to the Kuchiki House, buried in the middle of the Sixth District. Servants and guards watched her curiously, but paid her no other mind as she rushed to Lady Seiraryu's particular group of buildings. Panting to catch her breath, Shione finally stopped running once she was leaning against the door jamb to the lady's home.

She didn't realize she wasn't alone until a soft tinkle of china against china announced someone else's presence. She practically jumped out of her hide, hand flying to heart, as she stared wide-eyed at the slouching figure at the low tea table in the center of Seiraryu's communal room.

Kuchiki Byakuya regarded her with faintly veiled alarm, before he was back to being a cold stone of a man. Slowly, he took a sip from the cup he had set down. One elegant eyebrow arched at her in a silent, curious question. But she read the unspoken words in his eyes. "What the hell are you doing here?" they seemed to say.

Still panting, Shione blushed furiously as she tried to smooth her kimono over her hips and ignore the fact that she was sweating. Lord Kuchiki knew who she was, and knew that she wasn't just a simple servant running errands. He knew she was a geisha, and geisha were not supposed to sweat.

But when she answered with silence of her own, Lord Kuchiki decided to simply ignore her and went back to drinking whatever was in his cup.

"I am sorry to barge in so suddenly, Bya—Lord Kuchiki," she had been about to call him Bya-Bya-kun, like Seiraryu does. Not a wise decision. "I was hoping to see Lady Kuchiki."

Byakuya made a sound in the back of his throat, as if he were huffing in mild amusement. But his face remained blank as he nursed his drink. "She is not yet awake," he replied quietly.

Something was off in his voice, but Shione didn't know what. Settling for second best to Seiraryu's company, Shione rushed to take a seat opposite from Byakuya. He seemed as if he were still sleepy as he held his cup in both hands while she refilled it with the tea pot that sat in front of him. The tea wasn't steaming.

She frowned and looked for the nearest servant, only to find none. Well, other than herself, but that didn't count.

"She probably will not rise until noon," Byakuya offered up without her prompting, accompanied with a little sound that resembled a chuckle.

Today was one of Shione's rare free days. She could wait that long without Lady Misha becoming suspicious. As long as she was back by the evening meal, the old bat would just assume Shione was busy avoiding her. She had done it before. "Would you mind if I kept you company until then?"

Byakuya didn't seem to hear her. He downed his newly poured tea in one rather un-lordly gulp, before sticking his cup back out to her to refill. She obliged with a sidelong glance. "The elders want me to marry her off, you know," he volunteered another bit of random information. "As if I ever controlled what she will do or has done. Seiraryu will marry whenever she is damn well ready to, and not to any man I pick for her."

"Is that so, Lord Kuchiki?" she asked politely and refilled his cup yet again. As long as he didn't seem to mind that his tea was cold…

"They just want the blasted succession secured," he hissed angrily under his breath as he stared into his cup. "Since I am apparently incapable of producing a heir upon a dead wife!"

Shione's face turned scarlet as she opted to remain silent. She had not been imagining it. Captain Kuchiki was acting very strange indeed. Certainly he wasn't the kind of man to be talkative in the morning, only to degenerate to monotonous comments later in the day? She stared at his tea cup, wondering quietly to herself.

"And I do not plan to remarry. We have no other blood brothers or sisters. If we want the clan to stay with direct descendants, Seiraryu is our only bet," he made a definite half-assed chuckle, this time. "Never a good idea to lay all your cards on her."

"I think Lady Kuchiki would be a grand matriarch," Shione offered absently as she pulled the tea pot closer to herself. She opened it and stared inside at the crystal clear contents, noting that it lacked any sort of tea bags or leaves.

"She would, but she takes none of it seriously," Byakuya grunted grumpily. His mood kept going down hill as he sipped at his tea. "She would rather play Shinigami and generally disobey my wishes. And Rukia…she is too young to even think of settling down and popping out babies."

Shione listened with one ear as she sniffed the contents of the tea pot. Sure enough, it stunk of alcohol. It seemed her noble patron was imbibing sake during the early hours of the morning. Not a good sign. "How long have you been drinking, Byakuya?" she interrupted his most recent tirade against his sisters.

He stared at her dumbly for a minute, before shrugging. "It does not concern you."

"It is eight in the morning, Byakuya." He didn't seem to notice that she was referring to him so informally. "How much, if not how long?"

Another shrug.

Sighing, she refilled his cup before standing. No point in stopping him now, she thought as she went to the closest door way to search for a servant. The damage was done, and the captain was royally drunk. He had to have been in the drink for quite a while, if his usual cool demeanor was left in the dark.

She had difficulty finding a servant, and Byakuya was getting louder behind her. Frowning to herself, she continued down the hallway towards Lady Kuchiki's bedchambers. If there were no normal servants about, there would be hand maids waiting there, at the very least.

But the large antechamber was barren, the posts of Seiraryu's maid servants left abandoned. Maybe they knew that their mistress would not want to be woken early, and had decided to sleep in themselves?

Byakuya called out for her drunkenly from the communal area, hoping to have his cup refilled again. He could do that himself, she huffed.

Well then, Seiraryu could deal with her drunken brother, Shione decided succinctly as she stomped loudly through the antechamber. With luck, maybe Seiraryu would hear her and awaken on her own. If not…

"Your brother is drunk at eight in the morning!" she declared as she tore open the rice paper doors to Seiraryu's room.

She hadn't expected to find herself staring at Vice Captain Abarai's naked backside wedged firmly between Seiraryu's creamy thighs. Both just stared at her in unabashed surprise, completely and utterly dumb struck.

They recovered at pretty much the same time. Shione yelped an apology as she hurried to hide her face in her hands, while Abarai and Seiraryu rushed to untangle themselves from each other's limbs and their bed sheets. Both were cursing vehemently, with more colorful vocabulary coming from Seiraryu than could be expected of a lady.

"Close the gods forsaken door, Fukada!" the lady yelled as her red-headed lover yanked black hakama over his tan legs. The Vice Captain looked absolutely terrified as he hurried to grab his clothes and get decent.

Shione didn't know that his terror was inspired by the looming figure behind her, until she felt an odd tickling sensation on her neck. Slowly, eyes wide as she peaked between her fingers, Shione turned to stare at Byakuya.

For all intents and purposes, he simply looked like a blank drunkard swaying where he stood behind her. But he had one hand braced on the doorway, long fingers white from his tight grip on the poor wood. His other hand shook on the hilt of his zanpakutou.

The tickling ran right down Shione's spine. Byakuya's hand shifted on his sword before he drew it in one elegant sweep of his arm.

"Now wait a second, Captain!" Abarai squawked in panic as he shoved muscular arms through his layered kimono, his hands hurrying to find the hilt of his own zanpakutou. The thing was leaning against a corner of Seiraryu's room, out of reach. "Don't do anything rash!"

Shione busied herself by plastering her already diminutive body against the wall at her back, trying desperately to melt into the wood work.

Seiraryu was pulling a thin kimono closed around her as she finally stood from her bed roll, blue eyes cold and commanding as she regarded her brother silently. She took her sweet time tying the obi tight before she spoke. "Sheathe Sebonzakura, Byakuya-kun."

Her brother snarled silently, his beautifully elegant face distorted by his rage.

"Sheathe it!" Seiraryu barked angrily.

A long tense moment passed, where Shione prayed to any gods that watched over her to spare her from this conflict. She did not want to get caught up in any type of violence, particularly between Shinigami, and most definitely between the Kuchiki siblings.

But Byakuya obeyed reluctantly, his sword arm trembling as he slid his blade home. "Leave us, Abarai," he growled quietly, threateningly.

Abarai Renji obeyed without question, taking an extra moment to snatch his zanpakutou and the rest of his clothes up before he hurried to squeeze himself past Byakuya in the door way. Shione watched him flee desperately, wishing that the red-headed vice captain had taken a moment to free her from this situation, too.

"Why would you do this to me?" Byakuya spoke as his second in command disappeared.

Seiraryu lifted her chin stubbornly. "You are the head of the Kuchiki household—"

"And your children are to be next! But how am I to marry you to a noble of renown when you are no longer a _virgin_!" he roared.

"And have not been since we were in the Shinigami Academy," she snapped in response, "Not that it is a matter that concerns you nor any other. So do not _dare_ think of taking anything out on Renji—"

"That idiot? I could hardly blame him for falling victim to one of your ploys!"

Seiraryu crossed the distance between her and her brother and smacked him squarely in the jaw. "How dare you!"

"Leave us," Byakuya snarled. It took a Shione a moment to realize that he was talking to her. "I said, leave!" he repeated with a roar.

Shione didn't hang around to hear it a third time. She stumbled over her own feet as she fled the scene with utmost haste, eyes still wide in terror.

Never again, she repeated to herself, was she going to break another of Lady Misha's rules.

* * *

I have a lighter class load 'til spring. I hope to finish this story and Blessed Victory, as well as put up Seiraryu's origin story thingy. That story is done, and will go up pretty quickly once I finish Sound of the Tide. :D

I love you all, by the way. Especially you lot that kept sharing my story with whatever rings you're in, and kept me sane through out this incredibly long school year. Your comments kept me alive! D: Much luff.


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